What can Russian images and objects—a tsar’s crown; a provincial watercolor album; the Soviet Pioneer Palace—tell us about the Russian people and their culture?This wide-ranging book is the first to explore the visual culture of Russia over the entire span of Russian history; from ancient Kiev to contemporary; post-Soviet society. Illustrated with more than one hundred diverse and fascinating images; the book examines the ways that Russians have represented themselves visually; understood their visual environment; and used visual images in social and political contexts. Expert contributors discuss images and objects from all over the Russian/Soviet empire; including consumer goods; architectural monuments; religious icons; portraits; news and art photography; popular prints; films; folk art; and more.Each of the concise and accessible essays in the volume offers a fresh interpretation of Russian cultural history. Putting visuality itself in focus as never before; Picturing Russia adds an entirely new dimension to the study of Russian literature; history; art; and culture. The book enriches our understanding of visual documents and shows the variety of ways they serve as far more than mere illustration.
#1079720 in Books Harold J Cook 2008-09-23Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x 1.29 x 5.98l; 1.55 #File Name: 0300143214576 pagesMatters of Exchange Commerce Medicine and Science in the Dutch Golden Age
Review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Excellent historical narrative and disciplinary integrationBy Stephen Hicks; Ph.D.I've long admired the Dutch Golden Age; but Harold Cook's work made many new connections for me; showing strong connections between developments in science; art; philosophy; commerce; and politics. It is unfortunate that so many of the key works of the era are still available only in Dutch or Latin; and Cook's work opened this English-speaking reader's eyes to many significant authors. Much appreciated.5 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Exhausting and unentertainingBy brooke_mThe book gets a second star for the undoubted wealth of factual information contained within in; useful for purposes of reference. However; as a work either of historical scholarship or of popular history; "Matters of Exchange" falls badly short. In academic terms; the book is a compendium of raw data but the author's main arguments seldom shine through - one is left wading through anecdote after anecdote relating to one or another obscure historical personages. Only at the very end; in an abbreviated epilogue; is there any attempt to synthesise together the mass - or more accurately; morass - of data into a coherent thesis. As a piece of popular history; it is simply too long and too dense to make for entertaining reading. I would recommend Lisa Jardine's "Going Dutch" as a superior alternative that covers much of the same ground but in a more lucid and compelling fashion.6 of 16 people found the following review helpful. Nice historical description; but poor hypotheses about the emergence of the "Scientific Revolution"By FrancescThis book was 20 years in development. Therefore; it includes a detailed description about the Dutch Golden Age. Good chapters are above all the fifth and the sixth. So far so good. However; this book has a huge blind spot. The part dedicated to explain the reasons of the "Scientific Revolution" is trivial. Cook describes only single focal points at regional and global level; but not at societal structural level. There is not evidence that merchant values and increasing of social complexity can be integrated as this book does. The arguments linking scientific revolution and commerce are unprecise. Moreover; they lack of systematic theorizing. A sentence of the preface's book summarizes my views on the book:"And I hope that even those who disagree with the arguments of the book will find some of the descriptive material on which it is based to be of interest". Preface. p.xii.
